The Internet is a place where we spend increasing amounts of time. We go there to talk to our friends, to play, to learn and to explore. It’s a place where space and time become blurred and the actual, physical world mixes with the virtual.

Google allows us to explore the world as time-travellers to the recent past, floating through streets on the other side of the world. The Google Art Project allows us to walk through galleries and museums, and zoom in on the brush strokes of our favourite paintings. Why queue for the Uffizi when we can stroll through the empty galleries from the comfort of our armchairs?

It is an extraordinary technical achievement, a very useful tool, but it’s not the real thing, you can’t smell the oil paint and you can’t quite walk all the way round the sculptures. It is a 2 dimensional interpretation of the real world.

There is a vast amount of information available at the click of a mouse and with the development of software programmes and Apps some of that information can be visualised in different ways, including translating it from 2D to 3D.

Arte Dolum was created to explore these issues.

The starting point of the artwork was a detail of a baroque piece of furniture in The National Museum of Art, Architecture and Design in Oslo. I photographed it, from different angles, around 30 times with my iPhone and uploaded the images using the 123DCatch App. The images were then ‘stitched’ together using cloud technology and returned to the phone, minutes later as a joined up 3 dimensional image. Using software on my computer I then imported the 3D file and ‘reverse engineered’ it, stretching, reforming and connecting it to the baroque ‘ monitor screen’ at the opposite end, The blurred image of scroll work was taken from a virtual tour of the baroque Schleissheim New Palace near Munich.

Arte Dolum is also an exploration of ‘Making’, relying on a combination of craft skills developed over many years as a potter and newly acquired skills gained through intensive use of new tools and technology over the past 7 or 8 years.

It was created to seduce and intrigue the viewer and to reveal its story to those who care to look.

Arte Dolum, 2013

Made by Additive Layer Manufacturing from nylon with a mineral soft coating and details in 24ct gold leaf

The blurred image of scroll work was taken from a virtual tour of the baroque Schleissheim New Palace near Munich.

Tempus, 2013

Made by Additive Layer Manufacturing from nylon material with mineral soft coating

Height 20cm (7 7/8") Width 42cm (16 1/2") Depth 42.5cm (16 3/4")

Private Collection, USA, 2013 through Adrian Sassoon

The Tempus was inspired by my interest in the cultural role that architecture plays in society. Buildings are more than just stone or steel, slate or glass, they have meaning beyond the physical. They make statements, reflect their creator’s personality and polarise opinion.

Based on C19th architectural models, the Tempus is a hybridisation of historical architecture, demonstrating that the contemporary can be found in the past.

The entrances were based on a Norman arch at Lindisfarne Priory and a Neo-Renaissance architectural detail from Salt’s Mill in Bradford, UK.

My practice focuses on the creative use of 3D printing and the transfer of my ceramic skills to new tools that allow me to create ‘impossible’ objects for the first time. It was created using Computer Aided Design software (CAD), a process that took many hours of intense work and once satisfied with the form, the CAD files were used to print the piece, slowly, layer by layer.

Tempus, 2013

Made by Additive Layer Manufacturing from nylon material with mineral soft coating

The Tempus was inspired by my interest in the cultural role that architecture plays in society. Buildings are more than just stone or steel, slate or glass, they have meaning beyond the physical. They make statements, reflect their creator’s personality and polarise opinion.

Based on C19th architectural models, the Tempus is a hybridisation of historical architecture, demonstrating that the contemporary can be found in the past.

The entrances were based on a Norman arch at Lindisfarne Priory and a Neo-Renaissance architectural detail from Salt’s Mill in Bradford, UK.

My practice focuses on the creative use of 3D printing and the transfer of my ceramic skills to new tools that allow me to create ‘impossible’ objects for the first time. It was created using Computer Aided Design software (CAD), a process that took many hours of intense work and once satisfied with the form, the CAD files were used to print the piece, slowly, layer by layer.

Vncnns Vase, 2013

Made by Additive Layer Manufacturing from nylon with a soft mineral coating. Based on low-resolution images available from a search engine to re-interpret the design of a famous work of art.

This sculpture is based a Vincennes porcelain 'Vase Duplessis' of a model made in France circa 1750. Examples are in the Musée du Louvre, Paris; The State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg; the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge and in the Minneapolis Institute of Art, USA.

Height 35.5cm (14") Width 24.5cm (9 5/8") Depth 21cm (8 1/4")

Prtlnd Vase, 2012

Made by Additive Layer Manufacturing from nylon with soft touch mineral coating.

Height 30cm (11 3/4") Diameter 24cm (9 1/2")

Michael Eden used visual information available from a search engine to re-interpret the design of a famous work of art.

In this case the sculpture is based on the ancient Roman 'Portland Vase' made between 5AD and 25AD which is held in the collection of the British Museum, London.

Purchased by The Art Fund for The New Walk Museum, Leicester, 2013 through Adrian Sassoon.

Prtlnd Vase, 2012

Height 30cm (11 3/4") Diameter 24cm (9 1/2")

Made by Additive Layer Manufacturing from nylon with soft touch mineral coating.

Michael Eden used visual information available from a search engine to re-interpret the design of a famous work of art.

In this case the sculpture is based on the ancient Roman 'Portland Vase' made between 5AD and 25AD which is held in the collection of the British Museum, London.

Purchased by The Art Fund for The New Walk Museum, Leicester, 2013 through Adrian Sassoon.

Maelstrom VIII, 2011

Made by Additive Layer Manufacturing from nylon encased in patinated silver

Height 30cm (11 3/4") Width 18cm (7 1/8") Depth 10cm (3 7/8")

Private Collection, New York, 2013

Maelstrom IX, 2011

Made by Additive Layer Manufacturing from nylon with a mineral soft coating

Height 40cm (11 3/4") Width 21cm (8 ¼") Depth 13cm (5")

Artist’s Collection

Vortex edition

Made by Additive Layer Manufacturing from nylon with a mineral soft coating. A limited edition of 12 in various colours available through Adrian Sassoon

Height 24cm (9 1/2") Width 22cm (8 5/8") Depth 16.5c (6 1/2")

Exhibited at The 2011 Cheongu International Craft Biennale, South Korea

Quick Response (QR) codes are a variation of the barcodes found on almost every product in the supermarket. As with barcodes, they can be used to provide information when scanned with a barcode reader; in this case the QR code provides a link to a page on my website. Readers now come as standard on some mobile phones and can be downloaded for many other types of phone.

My aim was to translate the 2D QR code into a 3 dimensional object, so that the viewer, if equipped with a barcode reader could have simultaneous actual and virtual experiences of the vase.

As in my previous work, I wished to use this one to tell a story. On a visit to the British Museum in London, I was intrigued by some 6th century BCE Chinese wine vessels with raised geometric surface patterns that turned out to be a language used to describe events that the wine vessel was made to commemorate. So I decided to use language as the theme.

Using Rhino CAD software I extruded the 2D QR code into a virtual 3D block. This was then ‘sculpted’ to give it the shape of the wine vessel. The data was sent to the Digital manufacturing Centre at the Bartlett School of Architecture at UCL in London where it was printed in nylon on an EOS Selective Laser Sintering machine. It was then coated with a mineral ‘Soft touch’ surface treatment.

Mnemosyne, 2011

Made by Additive Layer Manufacturing from nylon with a mineral soft coating

Height 14.5cm (5 3/4") Width 18.5cm (7 1/4") Depth 18.5 cm (7 1/4")

Purchased by The Carnegie Museum of Art, USA, 2013 through Adrian Sassoon

To begin with, I generated a QR code and then extruded the resulting 2-dimensional image into a 3-dimensional form using CAD software. This was then given the shape of a traditional jewellery box.

So the idea is that the owner can scan the Mnemosyne with a Smart phone barcode reader App, which then connects to a website page where stories can be told, memories stored, photos deposited, sounds locked away, thereby creating a simultaneous actual and virtual experience.

Mnemosyne, 2011

Made by Additive Layer Manufacturing from nylon with a mineral soft coating

Height 14.5cm (5 3/4") Width 18.5cm (7 1/4") Depth 18.5 cm (7 1/4")

Purchased by The Carnegie Museum of Art, USA, 2013 through Adrian Sassoon

Vinculum II, 2011

Made by Additive Layer Manufacturing from nylon material with a purple mineral soft coating

This piece is one of the exhibits in Michael Eden: History Re-Printed at the Holburne Museum, Bath, UK from November 21 to March 28, 2016

The Vinculum II acts as a link, a bridge between two worlds.

It brings together 21st century craft and cutting edge technology with their rich historical roots. Through the use of a QR (Quick Response) code the physical object is liberated and connected to a virtual experience with the potential to lead on to further actual experiences.

QR barcodes are similar to the barcodes we find on most products in the supermarket. They function as a link to factual information; I was interested exploring their potential for story telling.

To begin with, I generated a QR code and then extruded the resulting 2-dimensional image into a 3-dimensional form using CAD software. This was then given the shape inspired the creamware of Josiah Wedgwood.

So the idea is that the owner can scan the Vinculum with a Smart phone barcode reader App, which then connects to a website page where stories can be told, thereby creating a simultaneous actual and virtual experience.

In the setting of a museum or gallery the viewer can be re-directed to other related objects in the collection, enhancing and deepening their experience.

Vinculum I, 2011

Made by Additive Layer Manufacturing from nylon material with mineral soft coating

It brings together 21st century craft and cutting edge technology with their rich historical roots. Through the use of a QR (Quick Response) code the physical object is liberated and connected to a virtual experience with the potential to lead on to further actual experiences.

Quick Response (QR) barcodes are similar to the barcodes we find on most products in the supermarket. They function as a link to factual information; I was interested exploring their potential for story telling.

To begin with, I generated a QR code and then extruded the resulting 2-dimensional image into a 3-dimensional form using CAD software. This was then given the shape inspired the creamware of Josiah Wedgwood.

So the idea is that the owner can scan the Vinculum with a Smart phone barcode reader App, which then connects to a website page where stories can be told, thereby creating a simultaneous actual and virtual experience.

In the setting of a museum or gallery the viewer can be re-directed to other related objects in the collection, enhancing and deepening their experience.

Amalthea, 2011

Made by Additive Layer Manufacturing from nylon with a mineral soft coating

Height 20 cm (7 7/8") Width 55 cm (21 5/8") Depth 24 cm (9 1/2")

Purchased by The Art Fund for donation to The Leeds City Art Gallery, 2011 through Adrian Sassoon

Amalthea is an attempt to combine an actual experience with a virtual one by enabling an object to connect to the Internet through mobile technology.

Quick Response (QR) barcodes are similar to the barcodes we find on most products. They function as a link to factual information; I was interested exploring their potential for story telling.

To begin with, I generated a type of QR code known as a ‘blotcode’ which was then extruded from a 2-dimensional image into a 3-dimensional form using CAD software. The cornucopia shape of Amalthea refers to the wealth of knowledge available on the World Wide Web whilst the cryptic symbols within the filigree refer to the consequences this may have on society.

Objects often have stories attached to them. They can commemorate an event; they are often transformed into family heirlooms and passed on with the stories associated with them. Amalthea tells a story, but this story is online, so it has the potential to include text, video, image and music. It can be added to over time, creating a repository of memories and information.

So when the viewer scans Amalthea with a barcode reader mobile phone App, it connects to a page on my website telling the story, providing additional information thereby creating a simultaneous actual and virtual experience.

Spyridon Reliquary, 2012

Made by Additive Layer Manufacturing from nylon with a mineral soft coating and a wooden throwing rib decorated in 24ct gold leaf

A reliquary is a devotional object, usually containing a physical relic of a saint or an object associated with them.

The form of this Reliquary was inspired by the collection of religious artefacts in the new Medieval & Renaissance Galleries of the V&A.

I created the outer ‘skin’ of the object using Rhino 3D software.

The complex structure was then produced using experimental software that generates a fractal growth. In other words the structure was literally grown, both at the design stage and in the 3D printing process. An algorithm formulated on the branching of plants and trees governs the fractal growth. I created this structure in order to allude to the mathematical system that determines how all living organisms grow as opposed to the creation myths that underpin much religious belief.

The Reliquary contains a personal relic, one of my wooden ribs, a tool used for many years when I threw pots on the wheel. I have encased it in 24ct gold leaf to reflect the value of the tools and craft skills required to make objects. The name of the Reliquary refers to Saint Spyridon, the patron Saint of potters and the use of a rib is both a play on words and also offers viewers an opportunity to think about the relationship between traditional and digital tools and technology.

The Hand, 2013

Made by Additive Layer Manufacturing from nylon material with a mineral soft coating and details in gold leaf

The Hand celebrates craft and is dedicated to those who make with skill. The fact that it was made using digital technology might appear contradictory, but through this piece I wish to emphasise that the use of these new tools requires the same levels of haptic skill and tacit knowledge that are required in traditional making.

Hidden from view inside the piece is one of my metal modelling tools, used by me for many years. It was chosen both as a reference to the ulna, one of the bones often contained in arm reliquaries and in honour of the importance and value that makers give to their tools.

Having made ceramics by hand for over 25 years, the attraction of digital technology is the ability to produce artworks that were previously impossible to make. For me this engagement with a new creative language is heavily reliant on my previous experience and embraces, rather than rejects traditional skills.

It was created using Computer Aided Design software (CAD), a process that took many hours of intense work and once satisfied with the form, the CAD files were used to print the piece, slowly, layer by layer. The coatings and gold leaf were then applied, followed by the assembly of the Hand.

The Hand, 2013

Made by Additive Layer Manufacturing from nylon material with a mineral soft coating and details in gold leaf

The Hand celebrates craft and is dedicated to those who make with skill. The fact that it was made using digital technology might appear contradictory, but through this piece I wish to emphasise that the use of these new tools requires the same levels of haptic skill and tacit knowledge that are required in traditional making.

Hidden from view inside the piece is one of my metal modelling tools, used by me for many years. It was chosen both as a reference to the ulna, one of the bones often contained in arm reliquaries and in honour of the importance and value that makers give to their tools.

Having made ceramics by hand for over 25 years, the attraction of digital technology is the ability to produce artworks that were previously impossible to make. For me this engagement with a new creative language is heavily reliant on my previous experience and embraces, rather than rejects traditional skills.

It was created using Computer Aided Design software (CAD), a process that took many hours of intense work and once satisfied with the form, the CAD files were used to print the piece, slowly, layer by layer. The coatings and gold leaf were then applied, followed by the assembly of the Hand.